The expression “riche comme un Argentin” was popular in Paris a century ago, when Argentina was one of the world’s 10 wealthiest countries. Today the phrase could be reworked to “rich as a Brazilian”, given last week’s share offering by Petrobras – the world’s biggest ever. At $67bn, the state-controlled oil company raised a sum roughly equivalent to the annual economic output of a reasonably-sized country such as Iraq. And, as President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva crowed (if not entirely accurately), it all took place in S?o Paulo.
一個世紀前，巴黎曾流行這樣一句話，叫做“富如阿根廷人”。當時，阿根廷是全球最富裕的十個國家之一。今天，這句話可以改成“富如巴西人”，因為上周巴西國家石油公司(Petrobras)進行了有史以來全球最大規模的新股增發。這家國有控股石油公司在此次增發中籌資670億美元，大致相當于伊拉克這樣的中等國家一年的經濟產出。而且，正如巴西總統盧拉(Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva)歡呼的那樣（如果說他講的并不完全準確的話），這一切都發生在圣保羅。